German Patent Publication (DE-PS) No. 3,031,908 discloses a failsafe beam switch with filters and/or shutters which are brought into or out of the path of an electromagnetic radiation by means of an electromagnetic switching mechanism. The beam path may, particularly be that of a laser resonator or generator and the filter and/or shutters may be tilted into the path, whereby two filter systems or two shutter systems which are independent of one another are arranged in series one behind the other. Each filter or shutter system has its own sensor to check the instantaneous position of the respective system. The sensors are so arranged that the individual sensors control each other. The mutual checking makes sure that a failsafe radiation switch is provided which even if certain switch components have failed, still provides a safe protection against an undesired exit of the laser radiation. The known beam switch is constructed for providing protection against an undesired exit of a radiation, especially a laser radiation. The known switch is not particularly constructed for protecting sensitive components within a laser resonator or laser generator.